Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Do-Land

I have been watching Susan Garrett's videos that she is posting on her Facebook page. It is a series of three videos about overcoming struggles in dog training. She is brilliant. In part 2 today she talked about the three ways to overcome an "issue," whether it is nipping, chasing cars, or not holding a sit/stay. There is such valuable information in her videos, and she presents it in such an easy-to-understand manner. I highly recommend you watch the series.

Then, best news of all, she is opening the Puppy Peaks on-line class again. This class, by far, was the BEST on-line class I have taken. I had heard all her phrases and ideas, but this class put it all together for me. The Ah-ha moments were coming thick and fast every week. Such as, "Oh! THAT's what it means to redirect!" or "See? That's the problem I have too! What's she going to do to work through it?" Her videos of raising puppy Swagger, now two years old, were so valuable. The BEST ones were when things didn't go as planned. I learned so much about mechanics, timing, and rate of reinforcement. I felt empowered and armed with a "bag of tricks" that I could pull out a game or a plan to help my puppy Dixie overcome an issue such as meeting strangers.

As the movie critics on TV say, I would give this video series a two-thumbs-up rating. And if you have an opportunity to enroll in Puppy Peaks, you will reap many rewards. Go for it!